SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected a jury award of $1.3 billion to Oracle Corp in a copyright infringement lawsuit against SAP AG, paving the way for a possible new trial in a years-long legal dispute.

Devindra Hardawar / VentureBeat:iSwifter brings Flash-based Google+ games to the iPad — iSwifter's innovative app for streaming Flash-based games and applications to the iPad now supports Google+ games, the company announced today. — The Youweb-incubated company has already found success streaming Flash-based Facebook games …

Tom Loftus / Digits:Ask.com Wants to Channel Your Inner Jeeves — Ask.com is getting its Jeeves back - sort of. — Today the site, which began life 15 years ago as the Q&A-based search engine AskJeeves.com, is returning to its roots allowing for users to pose questions and get answers.

If you're going to do something with the beloved "Aliens" oeuvre ... there are going to be some very high expectations. If you're Gearbox Software — a company making a video game that it dares call the "true sequel" to the second "Aliens" movie — then the expectation is: you better do it right. But can "Aliens: Colonial Marines" possibly live up?

With all of the iPhone rumors out there, kernels of truth abound. Let's break down each bit — from launch date to possible new carriers and prices, to phone specs — and see what will probably happen, and what we can safely dismiss.

With Samsung’s long-heralded Galaxy S II coming to three of the four major carriers, the iPhone faces some stiff competition, but here are eight alternatives that offer something that Apple’s ever-popular handset lacks.

CNET is reporting that Apple lost a prototype iPhone in a bar — if that sounds familiar, that's because it'd be a suspiciously coincidental repeat of last year's infamous wandering iPhone 4. At this point, however, we're not sure it's true.

In a small state like Vermont, you might think everyone knows everybody. But they don't, and in dealing with the aftermath of Irene, Facebook is proving to be a huge resource for those with info and those who need it.

Deathspawner writes "Think that all SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) controllers are alike? As Techgage explores, that's not the case. While most SATA 3.0 controllers do deliver the performance promised, the most popular offering on the market does not — at least where bandwidth-busting SSDs are concerned. The controller comes from Marvell, and was bundled on all motherboards prior to AMD and Intel launching their own SATA 3.0 solutions. In some cases, Marvell's controller is half as fast as the others, making it no better than a SATA 2.0 controller. For those with motherboards using a Marvell controller, the solutions are few; build a new PC, or invest in a super-expensive add-in card." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It ain't often that the hated few have a genuine change of heart, but it sounds as if the folks who founded The Pirate Bay are tired of sailing the same seas. After years of turning a blind eye to content mavens across the globe, Fredrik Neij and co. have launched what appears to be a legitimate file-sharing site -- one that's "respectful of copyrights." For all intents and purposes, BayFiles is yet another alternative to RapidShare and MegaUpload, acting as a cyberlocker that allows anyone with a web browser to upload files to share via a unique URL. Unregistered users will be limited to a 250MB upload, while standard members get bumped to 500MB and paying 'Premium' members can share up to 5GB per link. According to the terms of service, content that "violates third-party copyrights" cannot be uploaded, and folks who routinely ignore said words could face account termination. Head on down to the source to get started, and if you fall in love, you can pony up €5 a month, €25 for six months, or €45 for 12 months to claim your membership.Pirate Bay founders launch 'copyright respecting' BayFiles sharing site, still dream of a life on Sealand originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Slashdot | Thinq, TorrentFreak, BayFiles | Email this | Comments

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Edible Apple: "Apple didn't release the first tablet computer or even come up with the idea for tablet computing itself. If anything, Microsoft, and Bill Gates in particular, were championing tablet computers years before the iPad was released. In this video clip from the first All Things D conference in 2003, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs explains to Walt Mossberg why Apple, at the time, wasn't keen on tablets and more specifically, why Jobs felt that stylus computing and handwriting recognition were inherent failures." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The last time Google's jet-setting smartphone took to space, it wasn't exactly flying in style. Well, the Nexus S has ditched its styrofoam trappings for more respectable digs -- specifically, NASA's last manned space shuttle, Atlantis. Its mission: "explore how robots can help humans experiment and live in space more efficiently." Affixed to a series of three robotic satellites, known as SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) the phones engaged in tasks usually done by their human travel companions, like recording sensor data and capturing video. A special sensor-logging app was customized by NASA to capture sensor data and is now available for download in the Android Market. To see the space traveling smartphone at work, hop on past the break, or hit up NASA's project page at the coverage link below.Continue reading Nexus S takes to space aboard Atlantis, does astronauts' dirty workNexus S takes to space aboard Atlantis, does astronauts' dirty work originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Google | Email this | Comments

Jack Dorsey / Twitter Developers:A note from @jack to Twitter developers — As Twitter developers, you are a fundamental part of our DNA. Thank you for your many contributions to the Twitter ecosystem. Our ongoing commitment is to give you the structure, tools, resources, and support you need to build your businesses as you leverage the power of Twitter.

The Nokia N9 will be considered a rarity in the US, UK and Germany when it's released, but at least fans Down Under won't have to look very far to get their hands on one. Espoo's officially announced its intention of selling the MeeGo device on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, in addition to distributing it through several major retailers. Look for the one-of-a-kind handset to make its way to Australia in October for roughly $850; those who opt for the 16GB model will be able to choose from black, blue and pink, whereas the 64GB version will only be made available in black. Full presser can be found below.Continue reading Nokia N9 coming to Australia in October on three carriersNokia N9 coming to Australia in October on three carriers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink TheNokiaBlog | | Email this | Comments

CNET News:Suspects in iPhone prototype case plead not guilty — The men who allegedly found and sold an iPhone prototype to a gadget blog last year pleaded not guilty to theft charges during their arraignment today. More — Share … 40 MINUTES AGO — TWEET Nicole Lee

First time accepted submitter dusanv writes "Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar energy firm, subsidized to the tune of $500 million and held as a 'gleaming example of green technology,' announced bankruptcy yesterday. 1,100 employees fired." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AJ Glasser / Inside Social Games:A Closer Look at Zynga's Adventure World — Zynga's Adventure World is an exploration adventure game for with puzzle elements. The game will launch on Facebook in the next week or so. — This is the first title to come from Zynga Boston, the studio formed following the Conduit Labs acquisition back in August 2010.

HTC just threw two new Windows Phone handsets down on the table and politely requested that we be impressed. The high-end Titan (previously leaked as the 'Eternity') is indeed an awe-inspiring brute, wielding a 4.7-inch SLCD display, 8MP rear camera and 1.3MP front-facing snapper to take full advantage of Mango's newfangled Skype integration. Its over-sized guts include a single-core 1.5GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and up to 16GB of fixed flash storage. Meanwhile, the Radar (which also recently leaked out as the 'Omega') comes significantly less pumped in order to meet a lower price point and -- we suppose -- the expectations of a more mainstream audience. It can be seen as an updated Trophy, with similar weight and dimensions, plus the same 3.8-inch LCD, 1GHz processor clock speed, 5MP rear camera resolution, RAM and maximum 8GB fixed storage. The key upgrades involve the cameras: HTC says it has an improved wide-angle lens on the rear, plus of course there's the VGA front-facer. Although HTC intends to update its existing WP 7 range to Mango starting in mid September, the Titan and Radar will be the company's first innately Mango-fied devices when they arrive in early October. What do we make of them? By all means, click past the break to find out.Gallery: HTC Titan hands-onGallery: HTC Radar hands-onContinue reading HTC Titan and Radar WP7 Mango phones revealed, we go hands-onHTC Titan and Radar WP7 Mango phones revealed, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on[..]

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:Google Chrome Celebrates Its Third Birthday By Browsing Down Memory Lane — It's a little hard to believe, but it's been three years to the day since Google first launched its Chrome browser in September 2008 (sure, we found out about it a few days early due to a leaked comic book of all things …

Salesforce.com is strengthening its hand in the ERP (enterprise resource planning) market, announcing on Thursday two new partnerships with Infor and Workday that will result in an intermingling of the companies' applications and technologies.

Sacking the old PC in favor of desktop virtualization is starting to grow and the information technology managers taking the lead on that trend offered some perspectives on the networking and security challenges it brings.

Ask 10 people what it takes to be an entrepreneur and you'll probably get 10 different answers. Ask LinkedIn, on the other hand, and you'll get a pretty detailed picture complete with schools to attend, companies to start off with and places to live.

With pennant races in full swing and the postseason approaching, Major League Baseball has spruced up its iPhone app with improved in-game graphics, more in-app multimedia, and expanded social networking options.

We've heard a lot about Facebook's musical ambitions over the past year with not a peep coming from Facebook on its' actual plans. Now comes fresh speculation from the website Mashable that claim Facebook is prepping a music service to go live September 22 at the F8 developers conference held in San Francisco.

Hitting the front page for the first time, rippeltippel writes "The Economist recently published an article about HP quitting the tablet market. Nothing new I said, until I read 'the announcement showed that the firm had finally seen the light about the tablet market — namely, that there is no such thing.' But are the games closed with the iPad as a clear winner? Possibly not: 'hackers have embraced the Nook, "rooting" its underlying Linux software ... so it can run many more applications from Google's online app store and elsewhere.'A review on Amazon's Kindle tablet page reads: 'They've cracked it — this is the future.' Can it possibly be read as 'Crackable tablets are the future of tablets?'"Smartphone vendors seem to have gotten the message: users want to control the software on their phones. It is a shame that Palm/HP, who were one of the only vendors open from the start, more or less lost the game. Unfortunately it seems that tablet and ebook reader vendors have yet to get the message. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CWmike writes "Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, said this week that Windows 8 will let users treat the traditional desktop as 'just another app' that loads only on command. When it unveiled Windows 8's UI in June, Microsoft said it would feature a 'touch-first' interface to compete in the fast-growing tablet market. Underneath that, however, would be a traditional Windows-style desktop. 'Having both of [the] user interfaces [work] together harmoniously is an important part of Windows 8,' Sinofsky said in a blog post on Wednesday. The Metro-style UI — the one inspired by Windows Phone 7's tile-based design — will be the first to show up when a user boots a device. At that point, users reach a crossroads. 'If you want to stay permanently immersed in that Metro world, you will never see the desktop — we won't even load it (literally the code will not be loaded) unless you explicitly choose to go there,' Sinofsky said. 'If you don't want to do ... 'PC' things, then you don't have to and you're not paying for them in memory, battery life or hardware requirements.' If using a conventional PC with keyboard and mouse, Windows 8 users will run an 'app' to load the desktop, he said. 'Essentially, you can think of the Windows desktop as just another app.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Hey, remember that new product from Improv Electronics that we told you about yesterday? We managed to sneak in some time with the device today at IFA, and we have to say, we like what we see. The Rip (that's "Record. Image. Preserve.") is the latest addition to the Boogie eWriter line, devices that let you scribble notes and drawings and can be wiped away with the press of a button (think a more legible Etch A Sketch). The Rip ups the ante with the addition of a microUSB port, which lets you transfer notes as PDFs to your computer.Improv was careful to point out that the device is currently in prototype mode, so we won't hold too much again the company for the product's plasticy feel -- though, if its predecessor is any indication, the final version likely won't be too far from this one, and the company confirmed that the final version will have the same charcoal color. And while the product is indeed plasticy, it certainly feels sturdy. More after the break.Gallery: Boogie Board Rip eWriting pad hands-onContinue reading Boogie Rip eWriting pad stylus-on (video)Boogie Rip eWriting pad stylus-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:Groupon PR to peHUB: Call Us Before You Write Another ‘Nastigram’ — For a company that's in registration to go public and thus forbidden from pumping up the company stock in advance of an IPO, Groupon is having an awfully hard time keeping quiet. Last week, of course …

Steve Kovach / The Business Insider:Tim Cook Picked This Guy To Finally Turn Around Apple's iAd Business — Apple has promoted Eddy Cue to the head of its iAd business, according to a leaked memo from CEO Tim Cook obtained by 9to5 Mac. — Before, he was Apple's iTunes boss. His new, official title will be Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services.